Ty Lauren, for the encouragement and great practical advice!

You see I work 2 jobs (Counseling Coordinator at a high school and a licensed marriage & family therapist at my own business practice) which is about working 58 hours a week. 

But, what I do know is some big banks are becoming much more conservative in their lending practices.

(At least in Illinois, laws can vary by state)Sounds like they are trying to get you to sign a buyer agreement which is not a very common practice today, some agents still do this but not all. 

W could probably have already refi'd to make our next purchase easier but ...um...some stuff happened to make that less practical for him.

I already live in a home with a detached mother-in-law that pays a good chunk of the mortgage.

I suspect many of these sub-leasers aren't paying attention to tax laws, zoning, or any other rules.

Besides being inspiring did you get any practical information out of it.

The big news here is that a class action law suit is going forward against the City of Bedford in the Northern District of Ohio contesting "all homeowners who were forced to endure government searches as a precondition to the sale of their homes are entitled to demand refunds of illegal “Point of Sale” inspection fees".A similar suit has already been adjudicated in the Southern District Courts in favor of prohibiting the practice as a sale requirement.41 communities in Northeast Ohio require some type of POS for title transfer which I'm sure is a source of income the cities don't want to see disappear.

Some states have common law marriage , after so many years and kids , they could consider you married .Safest thing ....................stay single and keep it zipped up